© Chris Dionte Walker
Hypocrisy, not democracy, defines how America is governed - an increasingly totalitarian plutocracy, oligarchy and kleptocracy.
Society's Child
From inception, democracy in America was pure fantasy. No rule of the people ever existed - governance of, by, and for the privileged few alone at the expense of most others.
American exceptionalism and moral superiority don't exist. The state of the nation is deplorable - more an obscenity than a responsible sovereign state. Count the ways.
Hypocrisy, not democracy, defines how America is governed - an increasingly totalitarian plutocracy, oligarchy and kleptocracy.
Hypocrisy, not democracy, defines how America is governed - an increasingly totalitarian plutocracy, oligarchy and kleptocracy.
The Canadian psychology professor's stardom is evidence that leftism is on the decline - and deeply vulnerable.
Two years ago, I walked downstairs and saw one of my teenage sons watching a strange YouTube video on the television.
"What is that?" I asked.
He turned to me earnestly and explained, "It's a psychology professor at the University of Toronto talking about Canadian law."
"Huh?" I said, but he had already turned back to the screen. I figured he had finally gotten to the end of the internet, and this was the very last thing on it.
That night, my son tried to explain the thing to me, but it was a buzzing in my ear, and I wanted to talk about something more interesting. It didn't matter; it turned out a number of his friends - all of them like him: progressive Democrats, with the full range of social positions you would expect of adolescents growing up in liberal households in blue-bubble Los Angeles - had watched the video as well, and they talked about it to one another.
© Rene Johnston / Toronto Star via Getty
"What is that?" I asked.
He turned to me earnestly and explained, "It's a psychology professor at the University of Toronto talking about Canadian law."
"Huh?" I said, but he had already turned back to the screen. I figured he had finally gotten to the end of the internet, and this was the very last thing on it.
That night, my son tried to explain the thing to me, but it was a buzzing in my ear, and I wanted to talk about something more interesting. It didn't matter; it turned out a number of his friends - all of them like him: progressive Democrats, with the full range of social positions you would expect of adolescents growing up in liberal households in blue-bubble Los Angeles - had watched the video as well, and they talked about it to one another.
Comment:
- The Left doesn't understand Jordan B. Peterson - because they don't WANT to understand him
- Jordan Peterson: "Stop saying things that make you weak" (VIDEO)
- Jordan Peterson - Pick up your suffering and bear it
- Jordan Peterson has been mischaracterized as alt-right
- Jordan Peterson vs. the Left
© Ahmed Zakot / Reuters
Israeli aircraft bomb Gaza City, August 9, 2018.
Israeli aircraft bomb Gaza City, August 9, 2018.
Emmanuel Nahshon angrily tagged BBC World and informed them that his tweet constituted a "formal complaint by the Israeli Foreign Ministry."
Comment: Israel conveniently leaves out the fact that rockets are launched in retaliation for initial Israeli aggression. The Daily Star reports that on August 8th:
Israeli tank fire killed two Hamas gunmen in Gaza Tuesday in a strike the Israeli military described as return fire for a shooting attack against its forces. The account was disputed by the Palestinian group. Hamas' military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed in a statement that the dead men were its fighters and named them as Ahmad Murjan and Abdel-Hafez al-Silawi.
The two men killed in northern Beit Lahiya were Hamas snipers taking part in a live-fire exercise within a compound on Gazan territory, the group's armed wing said in a statement. It deemed Israel's shelling of them a "criminal act."
Hamas warned Israel that it would pay for the attack, without elaborating. "The resistance cannot allow the occupation to impose a policy of bombing sites and targeting fighters without paying the price," it said in a statement.
In an earlier statement, the Israeli military said gunmen fired on its soldiers from a Hamas post, which was shelled by a tank in response. There was no word of Israeli casualties.
The military released footage that it said was of the incident.
One of the grainy black-and-white video clips shows two men in a watchtower; one appears to open fire as puffs of smoke burst in front of him. The video then cuts to separate footage of a shell hitting the post and an explosion.
Banderista rally. Stepan Bandera was a prominent Nazi collaborator in World War II.
This picture is among many which were originally published in the excellent 4 July 2018 article by Asa Winstanley at The Electronic Intifada. His article was headlined "Israel is arming neo-Nazis in Ukraine". That article focuses upon Israel's strong support for the racist-fascist (or ideologically nazi) Government of Ukraine. (Click onto it to see the documentation - it's Israeli nazis, against Russians, not against Jews, though they're allied with ones that are against both, which is why the US did this - aiming to conquer ultimately Russia.)
Comment:
- Israel now arming neo-Nazis in Ukraine
- Russian OSCE envoy Alexander Lukashevich: US fosters civil war by arming Ukrainian radicals with heavy weapons
- Video evidence shows Ukrainian Neo-Nazi government, supported by the U.S., engaged in atrocities and war crimes
- Neo-Nazi battalion promises not to lay down arms until Donbass, Crimea conquered
© Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic
Kidder's daughter, Maggie McGuane, told the AP, "It's a big relief that the truth is out there." McGuane, an only child, noted that Montana has one of the highest suicide rates, adding, "It's important to be open and honest so there's not a cloud of shame in dealing with this."
McGuane continued, "It's a very unique sort of grief and pain. Knowing how many families in this state go through this, I wish that I could reach out to each one of them."
John Coltharp, 35, told a judge he was following "heavenly laws" and was an Old Testament figure returned to Earth to promote child marriage, the Deseret News reported .
He maintained that it doesn't matter how long he goes to prison because society won't last much longer.
Judge Marvin Bagley told Coltharp his beliefs are wrong and don't come from the Bible. He said he hopes Coltharp is never released from prison.
Coltharp pled guilty to sodomy and child bigamy charges in June. He could spend life in prison as he waits for a parole board to determine a possible release date.
© Rodrigo Garrido / Reuters
Father Paolo Glaentzer, 70, was arrested last month for allegedly molesting an 11-year-old girl in a car. The court did not jail the priest, but he is currently being held on house arrest as an investigation continues.
The disgraced priest told an Italian newspaper that he is "very sorry" about what happened, but argued that "the devil tripped me" into abusing the girl.
Glaentzer said that the encounter was "an exchange of affection" that got out of control, and added that the victim seemed "much more mature than she was."
© St. Francois County Sheriff's Dept
Laura Cheatham, 38, and Daryl J. Head, 38, were detained by deputies of the St. Francois County Sheriff's Department, who responded to an anonymous tip on Tuesday of possible child mistreatment in a Farmington home in the state of Missouri.
When police officers and Children's Division worker arrived at the residence, Head seemed reluctant to welcome the unexpected visitors and held the inspectors waiting at the door. In the meantime, Cheatham was witnessed unscrewing plywood from small rooms to release three girls and one boy, ages 5-12.
After gaining access to the house, authorities and the social worker discovered that the couple had modified two of the bedrooms on the main floor into four tiny "specially constructed" spaces that were "smaller than a jail cell," with no lighting, no water access, and no toilet facilities.
© Flickr
'Old Glory'
'Old Glory'
"Over the past couple of years it has become increasingly obvious that more and more of our community were choosing to not stand and/or recite the pledge," Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School president Lara Zelski said on Tuesday.
Now, students who choose to do so will be allowed to recite the pledge at a point later in the day, while the staff and students work together to create a new school pledge that "will focus on students' civic responsibility to their school family, community, country and our global society."
The mantra "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" was written in 1892, and adopted by Congress as its pledge in 1942. The words "under God" were added to the pledge in 1954, as the US stood in opposition to the 'Godless' communism of the Soviet Union.
Comment: How is the pledge not all-inclusive? What words or meaning do not imply this? It has always been an American right to remain silent, a choice.
© Denis Sinyakov/Reuters
Tshinval, South Ossetia. August 16, 2008
Tshinval, South Ossetia. August 16, 2008
This week marks a decade since arguably the first social media war. It began when the Washington-backed former president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili ordered an attack on South Ossetia - the region which had declared independence from Georgia in the early '90s.
Russian peacekeeping troops had been stationed there since around 1,000 lives were lost in fighting between 1991 and 1992. That period had seen ethnic cleansing on both sides, with Georgians torching entire Ossetian villages and houses occupied by Georgians looted and burned down, according to Human Rights Watch.
At the time, the new social media platforms were generally regarded as harmless, fun and frivolous tools, with their downsides not really understood. And the initial reaction to the conflict echoed this perception. Indeed, a famous viral comment saw one user ask (with apologies to the English language):
"I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie."At the same time, on Facebook, widely-shared posts saw amateur comedians wondering if they should flee Atlanta before the Russians arrived.
Comment:
- Saakashvilli admits Georgia started war
- How the West framed Russia for 'invading' Georgia in 2008
- Medvedev on 'unstable' Saakashvili, Georgia's connections to NATO and the 2008 war to protect South Ossetia
- 'Beacon of liberty': 10 years since Georgia attacked South Ossetia and Russia - not the other way around
- The South Ossetia war 9 years later: EU investigation ignored and 'nobody paid the price' for 2000 killed
- Remembering the 08.08.08 Georgia war: Forerunner to today's proxy war against Russia via Ukraine
- UK police detain investigative reporter Graham Phillips for stating the truth about Georgian aggression against South Ossetia
Comment: